1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network communications. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for issuing notifications of a change in availability of a network contact.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many communication applications, such as telephony, email and instant messaging applications, allow a user to create and store data entries that include contact information for individuals, groups of individuals, or organizations. These data entries, like the entities they represent, are commonly referred to as “contacts.” Contacts typically include telephone numbers, email addresses, instant messaging aliases and other contact information. In addition to managing contacts for a user, many conventional communication applications also provide a status indicator for a contact. Typically, the status indicator conveys that the contact either is or is not presently available for communication.
However, the status indicators of conventional communication applications are limited to providing only present availability information. For example, when a contact is unavailable, a conventional status indicator provides no information regarding when the contact will become available, forcing the user to actively monitor the communication application for changes in the status indicator. Moreover, conventional communication applications and their status indicators are concerned with only a single type of availability. For example, conventional instant messaging applications provide status indicators that convey only present instant messaging availability.
Thus, there is a need for providing a user with improved availability information for a contact. Particularly, there is a need for providing the user with improved notification of a change in availability of the contact.